I lay on my back and waited as she got herself comfortable beside me. Our chained hands lay in the empty space between us, our fingers brushing against each other.
We both fell quiet and I closed my eyes, willing sleep to come.
It felt like I lay there for hours, the churning emotions that warred within me feeding on the darkness and sending me too many thoughts for me to deal with if I wanted any hope of sleep.
With a huff of irritation, I rolled onto my side and tried to look over Sloan to the window and the view beyond it.
It was my ritual. I fell asleep looking out of a window and let my worries slip away into the sky.
“This isn’t going to work for me, bella,” I said sharply, tugging on the cuff as she mumbled something sleepily.
I didn’t give her any longer to respond, catching her shoulder in my grip and rolling her towards me. I flipped her all the way around so that she was lying on my chained arm with hers falling over her stomach to meet it and her back to my chest so we were spooning and I could see beyond her to the window. We were pressed together and I could feel her heart thundering through the point of contact between us.
“What are you doing?” she breathed fearfully like she still imagined I might force myself on her. But I didn’t get my kicks out of forcing women to do anything. If she was going to give me her body, she’d be doing it more than willingly, begging me for every inch I offered her.
“I can’t sleep unless I can look out of the window at the sky, so this is how it’s going to work,” I replied simply.
The curves of her body fit perfectly into the cage created by mine, but she wriggled like she wanted to move away from me again.
“Why?” she demanded.
“Why what?”
“Why do you have to look out of the window? And I don’t want some bullshit excuse, if you seriously expect me to spoon you then I’m going to need a valid reason.”
I considered that for a moment. I didn’t really have to tell her shit. But if I had any hope of getting some sleep tonight, then maybe it was better if I just gave her enough of the truth to get my way.
“I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that I’m not a good man, Sloan,” I said in a low voice. “There are things I’ve done, things I’ve seen and stuff I’ve lived through that fills all the quiet corners of my mind. But if I can see the sky when I’m trying to shut my brain off, then I find it easier to remember that none of it matters. I’m just a tiny blip that takes up space in the time between nothing and nowhere. It doesn’t really matter what I do or what I’ve done because in the end when all is said and done, every one of us will be forgotten by eternity.”
Sloan stayed quiet for a long moment but some of the tension eased from her body and she shifted minutely closer to me.
“Who knew having so much power could be so lonely,” she murmured and I frowned. I’d never thought of myself as lonely, but I guessed she was right in a sense. We all came into this world alone and left it that way too. It didn’t matter if I loved my brothers or fought with all the passion of hell for vengeance in the name of my mother and Angelo. The dead forgot us anyway.
“Well we can’t all live the life of the spoilt principessa,” I replied. “It’s not so perfect out in the real world, bella. But then maybe you’re starting to realise that now.”
She scoffed lightly like I was the most clueless asshole she’d ever met.
“I’ve lived my entire life in a cage, Rocco,” she muttered. “The only difference here is that my chains are on show to the world.”
We both fell silent and I shifted to get a little more comfortable, drawing her closer to me. She pushed back against me, easing the tightness in the cuff by moving nearer and I stilled as her ass ground right into my crotch.
I placed my right hand on her thigh just below the line of her shirt, my shirt, my thumb painting a mark along the edge of the hem.
Her breath caught in her throat as I toyed with the idea of pushing my hand an inch higher. Despite the situation we were in, I was starting to get the feeling she might actually want me to do it.
She shifted again, pushing back against my body so every hard inch of me pressed into her ass.
She continued to move and I growled in warning, drawing a soft inhale from her lips. If she wanted to test my resistance, then she was going to quickly find it lacking.
Sloan fell still but the warmth of her flesh against mine still had all the blood in my body firmly finding its way to my dick. I was heady with the scent of her, she always smelt like the sweetest form of sin, a mixture of vanilla and nutmeg that was good enough to eat. But I knew if I had a taste of her, I’d be gorging myself before I could stop.
My gaze fell on the view out of the window as the snow stopped falling and the clouds slowly withdrew to give me a look at the stars.
Sloan’s breathing slowly evened out, but the ache in my flesh didn’t falter. I wanted to take her body and bend it to my desire. I wanted her pinned beneath me and screaming for more while I taught her just how good it could feel to hurt for me. But that wasn’t what I’d bet my brothers. I’d claimed that I could make her love me and if I convinced her to fuck me too soon, that wasn’t going to happen.
I needed her aching for me, begging, pleading, down on her knees because my pleasure was all that she desired in this world.
If Sloan Calabresi was going to fall into the snare of my heart, then I was going to have to play this right. So despite the pleading ache in my balls and the desperate need of her flesh, I forced myself to close my eyes, leaving my hand just beneath the hem on her thigh.
I wouldn’t take anything from her tonight and tomorrow she’d wake wishing I had and wondering why she was so drawn to a Romero.
***
We sat eating our lunch in the kitchen, my hand moving up and down with the path of Sloan’s as she lifted her fork to her mouth. I had to admit that the girl knew how to cook when I didn’t take the opportunity to throw the ingredients all over her and actually let her put them together. But in hindsight, I’d have probably preferred sandwiches to lasagne today as the constant yanking on the cuffs made it damn near impossible to eat.
I tried to cut my food just as Sloan reached for her drink and my knife fell to the table with a clatter.
“Enough,” I snapped, pushing to my feet and glaring at my brothers. “Where are the damn keys?”
“I told you fratello, I dropped them down the toilet.” Enzo shrugged innocently and I snatched my knife up again in my free hand before slamming it point first into the table right next to his fingers.
“Give me the fucking keys!” I yelled and Sloan flinched beside me, the cuffs tugging as she tried to escape my anger.
Frankie sniggered a laugh and I swept his plate of food straight onto the floor.
“Fuck this,” I snapped before turning and striding away from them, dragging Sloan along behind me.
“Where are we going?” she demanded.
“To get some damn bolt cutters.”
I threw open the closet beneath the stairs and searched in the back of it for the boots and coats I’d seen there. Papa hadn’t cleared out all of Mamma’s stuff after she’d died and the faux fur coat still held the scent of her rose perfume as I pulled it from the back of the closet.
My heart stilled as I was momentarily transported back into her arms, curled against her while she wore this coat. We were sat in the back of one of the family cars and she’d let me and Angelo snuggle inside her coat to cuddle up with her. My arms had been tight around her swollen belly where Enzo was kicking like a warrior, desperate to come meet his brothers. Angelo’s fingers had brushed mine as we fought to find the spot where the new baby would kick next. I’d been happy then. Truly happy in a way I didn’t even think I knew how to be anymore.
I turned to Sloan and pushed the coat into her arms. She threaded her free arm into it and tugged the other side over her shoulder which was about the best she could do in our current predicament.<
br />
A slight frown pulled at her brow as she looked at me but I turned away, not wanting her to see a part of me which was still so raw even after all these years.
I found Mamma’s old snow boots next and dropped to my knees to guide Sloan’s feet into them.
She had to stoop a little due to the cuff and as I looked up at her, I found a curtain of raven hair spilling all around us.
“Were these your mother’s?” she breathed like she’d just taken a peek right inside my soul and could feel what was branded on my heart.
“The dead don’t have much use for old coats and boots,” I said roughly and she dropped the questions like I’d smacked her. Which was fine by me because I didn’t need someone nosing into my business.
I grabbed a jacket out for myself, cursing as I couldn’t put it on over my chained arm and hooking a button closed to hold it in place across my chest instead.
I dragged Sloan outside and around the front of the house to the garage where our cars were parked up, selecting a blue ford pickup from the line up and heading around to the driver’s door.
I cursed as I reached it, glancing at Sloan who was firmly chained to my left side.
“I don’t suppose you can drive a stick?” I asked her. Though as that idea occurred to me, I thought better of it anyway. If I gave her control of the car, she might try and crash it in some desperate bid for freedom.
“I can’t drive at all,” she replied in a small voice and I tutted. Of course Giuseppe Calabresi wouldn’t have wanted his principessa driving herself around. Only chauffeur driven cars filled with body guards would do for her.
“Climb over then,” I commanded and she hopped in, twisting awkwardly as I followed her so that her right arm was still in the centre of the vehicle and she was forced to lean towards me over the parking brake.
I started the engine and tugged on her arm as I placed my left hand on the wheel. She was almost yanked off of her chair and her left hand flew out to steady her, landing firmly in my crotch.
“Oh my god!” She scrambled backwards and I almost laughed.
“Do you wanna just sit in my lap?” I offered as we took off down the drive and she was left half hanging out of her seat.
“No,” she growled like the idea of that didn’t appeal to her at all. In fact, she sounded damn near offended by me.
We drove on down the winding road out of the mountains as the minutes slipped by and the silence stretched between us. She was watching me the whole time, though I couldn’t take my eyes off of the icy road to return her penetrating gaze.
“What?” I asked eventually, shooting her a look which took in those doe eyes and pursed lips before I turned back to the road.
“I just don’t understand you,” she said. “One minute you’re violent and terrifying and the next you’re giving me your mother’s clothes. And then last night…”
“What about last night?” I asked, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth though I fought that bitch down. If she couldn’t figure me out then that was fine by me. I didn’t want her poking around in the depraved inner workings of my mind anyway. It would only give her nightmares and I was pretty sure the little she did know about me was enough for that anyway.
“You…we… Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” She turned to look away from me at last and I let myself smirk for half a second.
“Were you hoping I’d push my hand up beneath that shirt you were wearing?” I teased.
“No,” she snapped, a blush pinking her cheeks.
“How far up did you want my fingers to go then, bella?” I pressed.
“I wasn’t the one with a hard-on all night,” she growled.
“Right. You only got wet in the shower…”
Sloan huffed and kept her mouth shut, clearly not liking the turn of this conversation though I happened to think it was funny as fuck.
We eventually pulled into Mountaindale, the little town closest to the house, though it was still over forty miles away. Sloan kept looking all around like she thought she might suddenly see a sign pointing out exactly where we were on a map or maybe she was just looking for a friendly face to beg to rescue her. Either way, she wasn’t going to be getting away from me.
I headed straight for the hardware store in the centre of town and pulled the truck up right in front of the doors.
I glanced at Sloan, finding her eyes bright with hope and smirked to myself as I opened the door and helped her climb out.
I closed the door, stepping closer to her so that she was trapped between me and the truck as she looked up at me warily.
I reached out to her, pushing her long hair back behind her ear and looking down at her like she was the only woman in the world.
“What are you doing?” she breathed, thrown by my odd behaviour.
“Phil who owns this place is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet up here, but he’s also a nosey fucker. He’ll be watching us on the CCTV right about now and wondering who my lovely lady friend is. So make sure you put on a good show for him, sweetheart.”
“What?”
I answered her by catching her chin in my grip and tipping her mouth up to meet mine.
Sloan gasped in surprise and I shoved her back against the side of the truck, pushing my tongue into her mouth and stealing the kiss I’d been aching for from her full lips.
Her hands gripped my coat and she was almost pushing me back, but she didn’t quite manage it, her tongue stroking mine instead.
I growled as I kissed her harder, my hand fisting in her hair and her body moulding to mine as for the briefest of moments she gave in.
I felt the second her resistance hardened as the tension in her posture grew and she bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.
The mixture of pain and pleasure only got me off more, but I broke away from her before she followed it up with a knee to the balls.
“Did it live up to your fantasies, principessa?” I teased her.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she snarled.
“Far too much for us to discuss right now.” I caught hold of her hand so that I wasn’t just tugging her along by the chain that connected us and pulled her into the store.
I didn’t bother heading to the racks to find what I wanted, I just strode straight to the back where Phil was sitting behind the register wearing his red check lumberjack shirt and brown wool hat like always. The CCTV feed ran to a screen beside him and he looked away from it to us as we drew close.
“Morning, Rocco,” he said cheerily. “Got a new lady friend, I see?”
“Oh yeah,” I agreed. “This is Sloan, she’s a real handful.”
“Help me,” Sloan gasped, rushing forward to grab the counter and staring at him with wild eyes. “This man has kidnapped me! He’s holding me prisoner up in his mansion and-”
“That’s enough, sweetheart, you can drop the act while we’re here,” I joked, interrupting her and smiling brightly at Phil.
Phil laughed heartily. “Oh I see what you mean about her. Been doing a little role play have you?” he asked, winking at me.
“Yeah. That’s actually the problem,” I began but Sloan interrupted me.
“It’s not a joke!” she snapped. “He’s holding me hostage, keeping me chained!” She wrenched my arm up to show Phil the handcuffs which tethered us together and I smiled sheepishly.
“She got a little carried away and swallowed the keys,” I said, lowering my voice like I was a bit embarrassed.
“What?” Sloan gasped.
“My wife can be the same way,” Phil chuckled. “Once she puts on her French maid outfit she won’t stop dusting for love nor money-”
“Call the police!” Sloan shrieked.
“I thought I was supposed to be the police?” I asked, frowning at her. “You said my name was Officer Slammer and that I’d arrested you for indecent exposure-”
“He’s lying,” Sloan said desperately. “He’s kidnapped me and-”
“Sounds like she’s got
a new fantasy in mind now,” Phil winked at me again. “Do you want me to cut you free or do you wanna just take some bolt cutters home so that you can play out this little kidnapper bit?”
“He threw me in the cellar and now he’s forcing me to sleep in his bed,” Sloan insisted.
“Oh I bet he is.” Phil chuckled and Sloan looked like she might just burst into tears.
“I’ll take the cutters to go. And can I grab a length of rope while I’m here?” I asked as he strolled away to find the bolt cutters. “I’ll need something else to tie her up with once I cut these off after all.”
“Oh yeah, I’ll get the strong stuff for ya,” Phil laughed as he strode away and I turned to Sloan with a smirk.
“I hate you,” she hissed, tears glimmering in her eyes.
“Well lap it up, baby,” I purred. “Because you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Martello Romero’s properties were all ostentatious, lavishly decorated bachelor pads in varying versions from apartments to cabins, manors to studios. I guessed that made sense for a family consisting of one man and three sons, but the lack of a feminine touch struck me in every property I’d searched. Not all of them were occupied, but I’d been just as thorough searching those that were.
I was working through the list I’d stolen from the accountant, forcing my way into property after property and tearing the places apart in my hunt.
I wouldn’t stop, I barely paused for food or sleep. Nothing would keep me from my destiny. And her name was Sloan Calabresi.
When we were children we’d played together and I’d built her castles out of pillows, dens out of branches in the back yard, forts out of cardboard boxes. She’d always been my princess and I’d always been her knight. Nothing about that would change now that the monsters were no longer imaginary. I’d fight for her with the valour of a better man and the courage of the warrior she needed.
I still had the strangest of companions in my hunt. The only man to come with me on every search; Coco. It was absurd. The little white Pomeranian had walked out of buildings with bloody paws and torn through apartments filled with Romeros like he lived without fear. But as insane as it was to be taking him on these searches, I didn’t have it in me to stop him from coming. He ached to get Sloan back just as fiercely as I did and we had built a strange camaraderie with that understanding.
Beautiful Carnage: A Dark Mafia Bully Romance (The Boys of Sinners Bay Book 1) Page 14
